i wanted to get out this morning for a little while before having to go to work .. no problem .. got out started the diesel .... got everything together and made my way up to the store for a doughnut and coffee like i always do ...

while i was getting my coffee a young fellow in full camo came in and asked the clerks what time they start selling beer ???5:30 they said ... it was 5:45 in the morning .. the clerks looked at each other then looked over my way .. the fellow went to the coolers and bought 2 12packs of beer .. i paid for my coffee and snack and the one clerk said "i do not think that boy has a good idea" i shook my head as i got my change and said no i do not think so ... it is shotgun season this week ...

as i went out to my truck he was still loading his... and in the front seat i seen a shotgun ....

i sure in the hell hope he did not do what i think he was doing ... i hope like hell he was buying that for after he was done hunting ..

and it is a wonder i do not like hunting public lands ....

If I ain't huntin i ain't livin!!

hunting is not only skill but, being in the right place at the right time ...

well.... I can't say I've never had a drink or two while hunting or shooting guns, but it's never more than 1 or 2 over the course of the day. I also make sure to identify and stay behind anybody who IS having more than the 1 or 2.

As far as buying it before... I can see why you'd want to get it iced down and ready to go for hanging out at the camp or whoever's garage instead of having to run to town...

"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values and with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." ~Fred Bear

well i hope it is for afterwards ... ... but if he would bag something and get stopped by a game warden ... i think questions would be raised..

since i was little it has been drilled in my head .. if you are drinking .. do not touch a firearm .. and i guess the gun club i used to belong too had some draconian drinking rules around the club .. that if you were sold a beer on the property .. you were not to have a weapon or to be in the trap or skeet pistol or rifle area .. club houses fine ... if you were caught you were asked to leave ,, 2nd offense booted from the club...

i hope i am over thinking this .. and coming to the wrong conclusion but when he is loading the cooler and packing a backpack in the store lot .. makes me wonder ...

If I ain't huntin i ain't livin!!

hunting is not only skill but, being in the right place at the right time ...

WOW! It's a good thing you never saw me driving to our gun season camp! 2 cases of beer, a case of "dago red" table wine, and a bottle or two of "Jack" jammed in there with all the rest of food and beverages. And I'm the biggest "DO NOT EVER drink and handle weapons around me" Nazi you've ever met.

Give the guy the benefit of doubt on this one. He wasn't inebriated when you saw him and he most very likely was getting it for that evening when they were all in camp.

What if you saw someone buying .30-06 bullets or shotgun sabot slugs when it wasn't deer season? Would you assume that he was doing some poaching?

Deer camp was my introduction to peach schnapps, and Budweiser beer. To this day, I can't stand either one. There was no water, pop, milk, juice, NOTHING else in camp to drink. i was young, and very well practiced with my new compound, and I KNEW I could consistently put 3 out of 4 arrows in a dixie cup at 20yards all day long. I had 2 beers and felt no different, but I could no longer put any two arrows within 6" of each other. I drank nothing but stream water after that, and I have never gone to deer camp without my own supplies since. (That was the only time like that, others complained as well)

We did make a trip into town for other supplies the next day.

The only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker is observation. All the same data is present for both. The rest is understanding what you are seeing.

the only reason i question this is he was packing beer in a back pack and the cooler in the back of his truck .. if it all was for deer camp after hunting ... then why would he need beer in a back pack ?

If I ain't huntin i ain't livin!!

hunting is not only skill but, being in the right place at the right time ...

In my opinion, alcohol and firearms do not mix. But the moment you put the firearm down for some relaxing tall tales around the campfire, bring on the Bud. I agree that I would have been hoping that he wasn't planning on enjoying those beverages during the hunt, but I think I would give him the benefit of the doubt that he was saving them for later.